Egypt police attack anti-Mursi march

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A protester chants anti-Mursi slogans in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on 4 December 2012. (Photo: Reuters - Asmaa Waguih)

Published Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Egyptian riot police on Tuesday fired tear gas at protesters approaching the presidential palace as tens of thousands took to the streets to rally against a new draft constitution and to denounce a decree by President Mohammed Mursi expanding his powers.

Police fired the tear gas as protesters cut through barbed wire erected a few hundred metres from the palace.

Marchers continued to pour into the streets lining the palace in the upscale neighborhood of Heliopolis, with riot police only able to guard entrances.

Tuesday's protest is the latest in a string of action against Mursi's November 22 autocratic decree which expanded his powers to bypass judicial review.

The opposition, comprised of liberals, leftists and Christians, are also furious over a draft constitution hastily passed last week by the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly.

Riot police had earlier mustered around the palace as protesters chanted "leave, leave" and held up Egyptian flags with "no to the constitution" written on them. Other protesters assembled in front of two mosques north of Cairo before marching towards the palace.

Egypt's most widely read independent newspapers did not publish on Tuesday in protest of Mursi's "dictatorship."

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